The present invention relates to a new and improved method of, and apparatus for, creeling bobbins into their working position on ring spinning machines.
This particular art is already acquainted with devices for transporting full bobbins from roving frames to ring spinning machines with the aid of suspended rails. In these state-of-the-art devices, the bobbins are suspended near the roving frames upon trolleys which roll along rails and are transferred to the ring spinning machine. At that location the bobbins are manually removed from the trolleys and suspended in the creel of the ring spinning machine. The empty bobbin tubes removed from the ring spinning machine are suspended on the same trolleys and again transported back to the roving frames. The term "trolley" as employed herein is intended to designate a vehicle which preferably is provided with two rolls and suspended from the rails by means of such rolls and carrying the bobbins.
A shortcoming of such prior art device resides in the fact that the bobbins must be manually removed from the trolleys and then lifted-up to the relatively high location of the creel of the ring spinning machine so as to be suspended thereat. This operation is relatively difficult for the machine operators, especially since most of them are women, and particularly in view of the considerable weight of the bobbins which can amount to as much as four kilograms. Further, this operation must be carried out within the shortest possible time span in order to maintain the downtime of the machine at a minimum.
Equipment is also known in this particular art wherein bobbins doffed from a roving frame and suspended upon a transporting arrangement are taken over by an accumulating device and carried to the ring spinning machines. At the location of each ring spinning machine there is provided a take-off mechanism which moves the bobbins placed in the accumulating device into an intermediate accumulating device, from which location they are then pushed by a pushing mechanism onto supporting pins of a transporting device consisting of an endless link chain. This last-mentioned transporting device is disposed above the creel of the ring spinning machine and extends parallel to such ring spinning machine. The bobbins which are thus transported to the ring spinning machine are manually removed by the ring spinning machine operators or are removed by an additional automatic mechanism and suspended at the holders of the creel.
A drawback of this type of equipment resides in the fact that the same is extremely complex, and furthermore, the bobbins must be again placed into the creel of the ring spinning machine manually or with the aid of an expensive auxiliary mechanism.